The sound you do not want to hear at 7.30 in the morning

with three days to go until Christmas and snow for the forseeable future.

The central heating malfunctioning. The circulation pump making a noise and radiators clanking.

For years I have refused a boiler upgrade.

The old gas boilers use more gas than new ones but they work very simply. I have a friend who has just had a new high efficient gas boiler fitted three months ago.
First frosts left it malfunctioning at 2. 00 am in the morning. The problem is the condensate freezes where the drain pipe reaches the outside. This system by the way was fitted by a registered gas fitter which it has to be.
If you ring British Gas up at the moment the recorded message asks you to check the pipe I mention above for frozen water. I was told by a plumber at the skips last week that the pipe needs a second pipe over it to stop the water freezing. My friend has a piece of carpet over hers.

You couldn't make it up could you. There has been this constant pressure to upgrade. How much does the new gas boilers cost to fit and to maintain over the savings made each year?

I consider gas fitters crooks until they prove otherwise. The standard line being your gas boiler is obselete we can't get the parts. Millions have been conned on this. I have spoken to a gas fitter who says tens of thousands of boilers have been ripped out that required very little to put them right.

Oh and the fault?  An airlock stopping water getting to the pump - problem sorted.

Where we walk which is out in the sticks everyone has at least two methods of keeping the house warm. A wood fire is to be fitted this coming year. Gas will become a lot more expensive. Also a home made solar panel for hot water. The manufactured ones cost an arm and a leg. There is enough free knowledge on the web to make a very efficient one cheaply. Also our solid walls are to be lined with Kingspan that can be got cheaply off Ebay.

Postscript: It would appear there are a lot of boiler issues at the moment. Walesonline
Further postscript: The fault was actually in the jacuzzi room which is unheated..................